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If life is a video game, then Octalysis Prime contains the cheat codes. Learn how to avoid procrastination, find your purpose, and live your life like a gamer.

Readalong: Reality is Broken, Ch 14 – Saving the Real World Together

This continues the Readalong by Erik van Mechelen of Jane McGonigal’s ‘Reality is Broken’ with insights from Yu-kai Chou’s Octalysis framework. For in-depth discussions of this book and others, join Octalysis Prime.

tl;dr By taking a long view and using game design now, we can save the real world together.

Summary

Will Wright shared that he believes one of the largest skills to be gained from playing games is a better imagination. Why? For the survival of humanity.

Survival is present in many games from the Sims to Black and White to Civilization.

World without Oil was a collaborative forecasting and problem-solving game which helped people expand their imaginations through fictional obstacles.

Superstruct Ten Year Forecast was yet another collaborative game created and run by McGonigal’s Institute for the Future, which developed 550 superstructs, or combinations of structural solutions to problems.

Analysis

This final chapter is largely example driven and uncontroversial. Essentially, it is a rallying call for Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning and Calling.

Together, we can tackle what may be the most worthwhile, most epic obstacle of all: a whole-planetary mission, to use games to raise global quality of life, to prepare ourselves for the future, and to sustain our earth for the next millennium and beyond.